I'm Singing For You
by MasterIllusionist1143
Summary: On the first day in a new town some of Kairi's old friends invite her to one of their concerts, she soon gets more than she was expecting when she enters the world of their crazy little band. "You know how John Lennon sang the song of love for Julia. Well I sing it for you..." Sora x Kairi, Roxas x Xion
1. White Album

**I'm Singing For You**

 **Chapter 1 White Album**

The winter breeze tickled Kairi's nose as she carried boxes up to her new apartment from her car.

"Sure is cold compared to Destiny Islands," Kairi huffed, teeth chattering, holding her phone up to her ear, with her shoulder.

"Don't worry Kairi, you'll get used to it," Her cousin Xion said with a laugh on the other end.

"Haven't experienced winter since dad took me to Destiny Islands. Can't wait to get in touch with everyone though, especially Namine, haven't seen her since Grandma died a few years ago. It's been so hard living so far away since we were so young, hopefully we can finally start being sisters again" Kairi sighed.

"Gonna try to talk with your mom at all?"

Kairi grimaced, "The thought never crossed my mind."

"Come on Kairi it's been 14 years and you still haven't forgiven her?"

"Can we please change the subject..."

"Okay fine, so you excited for school at all?"

"I'm glad to have gotten out of that stupid community college, sure it was cheaper but still. I really wish I had done what Riku did and just came here to Twilight Town from the start."

"Riku ended up dropping out last year though, to pursue his artistic passion as he put it," Xion laughed.

"I'm not too worried about him, weren't you saying he had a band or something?"

A sudden boom on the other end gave Kairi a shock.

"Whoops, sorry Kairi I actually have to go, my ramen just exploded..." and then silence.

"How did she manage that...?"

* * *

"There we go all unpacked!" Kairi smiled as she stretched.

The small apartment consisted of a tiny kitchen, a little bedroom, a cozy bathroom, and a somewhat cramped living room where a coffee table now housed Kairi's laptop and record player, with a stack of vinyls underneath. The walls were lined with pale yellow wallpaper, probably pale from age if she had to guess. The ceiling was rather low too, she couldn't imagine anyone of above average height being too comfortable here and the floor was mostly covered in old yellow carpet that matched the walls, except for in the kitchen which had cheap, cracked tile, with what looked like plywood underneath.

"Well for 450 munny a month what was I expecting...," Kairi thought to herself as she placed a record onto the player, and dropped the needle. The familiar sound of Sgt. Pepper soon filled the room. "Should've lived on campus, Oh well I can do that next semester."

Kairi began to hum along as the vocals kicked.

"...we hope you will enjoy the show..." she sang along as a notification went off on her phone.

"Roxas!" She said out loud as she saw what the notification was.

It was a message from Roxas, one of her old friends from Destiny Islands, he had moved here to Twilight Town about 6 years ago after his mother had died.

 _Hey Kairi! Heard you just got in town from Riku. Speaking of Riku, me and him have a band and we have gig over at my godmother's bar tonight, why don't you come hang out, Namine and Xion are coming as well, and don't worry about paying I've already told Tifa to charge me for all your expenses. Here are the directions:_

Kairi glanced over the directions as she stopped the record player, apparently there was a record shop on the way to the bar. The show wouldn't start for another hour and a half and the bar was only about a 30 minute walk based on the directions.

"Hmm.. well might as well go to that record shop they might have something neat," Kairi said as she slipped on her shoes.

"Dad isn't sending me more money until tomorrow though, so I doubt I will be able to do much more than window shop," Kairi sighed as she walked out the door.

"Better find a part time job soon though, I can't rely on Dad anymore, I'm 20 years old!"

* * *

"The Fuzzy Moogle?" Kairi said her eyebrow raised as she gazed at the record shop, which had a huge stuffed moogle doll in front,

"Welcome to the Fuzzy Moogle," A young man announced as Kairi entered the shop, he was a husky young man around Kairi's age with brown hair, wearing a headband and a red shirt.

"My name is Pence, if there is anything you need feel free to ask!"

Kairi nodded and began looking around, the walls were black with white stylized notes, the ceiling in contrast was white and the floor covered in red carpet. They had quite the collection of rock and metal music here, Led Zeppelin, Queen, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Dio Slayer, Metallica. they even had some more obscure artists like King Crimson. But what had caught Kairi's eye was a solid white album, The Beatles...

It was the only Beatles album she didn't have on vinyl! It's not really a hard album to find a reprint of but this one was in excellent condition, it was wrapped in plastic and looked like it had never been open, the name was embossed and it had a serial number too, 0018058! This was an original! Her excitement soon died down when she saw the price... 235 munny, about half a month's rent.

"Damn it... such a good find too..."

The door opened again and a young man with spiky brown hair walked in, he wore a hoodie and baggie pants. He looked like he hadn't shaved for a few days as he was sporting something of a beard.

"He kind of has a familiar look about him though." Kairi whispered to herself. "The hair is familiar, but the face seems all wrong..."

"Hey man what's up," Pence said with a smile.

"Nothing much just on my way to the 7th Heaven for the show, so I was in the area and I thought I'd stop by" The young man replied with a big smile on his face as he walked towards Kairi.

"Oh that's the original print of the White Album you were telling me about, 235, that's pretty cheap... Pence is that actually the price?" He asked looking at Pence.

"Oh, crap I musta labeled it wrong it should be 325." Pence answered.

Kairi's countenance dropped even further. "Why God..." She muttered as she hung her head

"Hmm.. Pence I think I'll take it, here's 350. Keep the change," The boy said tossing a wad of munny at Pence.

Kairi's mood had just been ruined. She found such a good find and it got snatched away from her by this random stranger! Damn him!

The boy picked up the album and put it in a bag and held it towards Kairi.

"I saw you were looking at this pretty intently, and I heard you groaning when Pence mentioned the price... so here have it, you don't have to worry about paying me back," The boy explained a huge smile on his face.

"Th..Thank you..." Kairi stuttered grabbing the bag from his hand. That was freakishly nice of this total stranger to just give her a gift, an expensive gift at that, was he trying to come onto her? If so he was coming on a bit too strongly. But maybe he was **just** freakishly nice, she'd known someone like that before.

"Um.. well I have to get going..." Kairi said as she walked out of the shop, she heard Pence exclaim, "Thank you, and please come again!" as the door closed behind her.

* * *

She was not even 2 blocks away when she turned around to see the spiky haired guy following her.

"Wait he said he was going to the 7th Heaven too didn't he," Kairi sighed. "Well this is going to be fun..."

"Hey so you like the Beatles?" He asked when he got closer. "Didn't take you to be one of their fans."

He didn't even know her and he was already making prejudgments of her taste in music, this guy was just weird. But Kairi decided to just be friendly, and wait it out until they got to the bar, then Riku could take care of it.

"Yeah, probably my favorite band ever," Kairi said with a smile.

"They're mine too, I especially love the White Album. You don't get how hard it was for me to give up such a cool find like that," the boy laughed.

"I prefer Revolver and Sgt Pepper myself, but the White Album has my favorite song by them," Kairi said continuing to smile.

"Oh and what song would that be?" he asked, smile still plastered on his face as well.

"'Julia'..." Kairi replied.

"That's a good one, probably my favorite song from John," he replied, his smile fading from his face. "Maybe it's because I can relate a lot to what it's like losing your mother."

That was surprising, opening up like that, well maybe not so much given how he had acted up until now, he was rather odd.

They were about a block away from the bar now and Kairi could see Roxas ahead.

"Hey Sora! See you found Kairi!" Roxas yelled.

Wait... Sora!?

"Huh!? Wait you're Sora!?" Kairi said nearly screaming. That explains why he was so friendly and open towards her.

Sora laughed as they got nearer to Roxas. "Gee thanks Kairi for not recognizing me, I know it's been 6 years, but I haven't changed that much!"

"It musta been the beard man, told you it makes you look totally different," Roxas teased, elbowing Sora lightly in the side.

Kairi went up and gave Roxas a quick hug. "Nice to see you again, but you need to do something about that brother of yours," She said pointing to Sora.

"What do you mean by that Kairi?" Sora asked, hand behind his head.

"I mean why didn't you tell me who you were, you ass! I thought you were some kind of creep!" Kairi huffed at Sora, somewhat jokingly, as she began walking into the bar.

"Sorry about that..." Sora laughed again "It's really good to see you again though..."

"It's nice to see you again too, Sora," Kairi said looking back, a small smile on her face. "And I'm sorry, for not recognizing you. That stupid beard threw me off."

They both shared a laugh as they entered the bar

* * *

A/N Hi I'm Illusionist, and this is my fanfiction. I will try to keep author's notes concise and usually at the end of a chapter. Hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Also a really big thanks to FlowerLady_Aerith for beta reading this chapter. Lastly I welcome any and all feedback, so please write some reviews if you feel like it.


	2. Glass Onion

**Chapter 2 Glass Onion**

When Kairi stepped into the 7th Heaven the first thing she noticed was the large stage in the back, with various music instruments set up. In all there were: 4 electric guitars, 2 basses, 3 acoustic guitars, a drum kit, another set of drums that looked rather odd, a sitar, a synthesizer, a grand piano and a cello. Riku was on stage, he was wearing a black Pink Floyd T-shirt and dark blue jeans. His appearance hadn't changed much in the three years since she had seen him last, except for the fact he had grown his silver hair out, which he now wore in a ponytail. With him were two other guys. One was a blonde guy with a weird hairstyle wearing a white tank-top and holey jeans, he was discussing something with Riku. The other was a redhead who was leaning against the back wall in an all black suit with no tie, his eyes were closed and he wore a small smirk on his face.

The rest of the bar was nice, not too large, but nice all the same. The floor was hardwood and the walls were painted white. A black haired woman in a black blouse was busy cleaning the bar as some employees were cleaning the tables.

As Kairi and the others got closer to the stage she heard a large sigh.

"So we are doing 'Within you Without you'? Aww man, 'Norwegian Wood' is so much easier to play, not to mention Roxas isn't very good with the tabla yet. Come on Riku please let's just play 'Norwegian Wood'..." The blonde one whined. Roxas' expression soured a bit and he began to walk ahead of Kairi and Sora.

Riku groaned "Fine! We'll do 'Norwegian Wood'!"

"Hey Demyx, have something against my tabla playing," Roxas asked as he walked up onto the stage.

The blonde guy recoiled slightly.

"It's sloppy... If we had taken that 5 month retreat like I wanted we would've been able to get you some proper lessons..."

"We only had enough money for plane tickets! We would've been broke when we got there! Plus 5 months is way too long," Roxas replied, crossing his arms

"Okay guys calm down, we can do 'Norwegian Wood' it's fine" Sora smirked.

"We'll be premiering our new instrumental too right, 'The 13th Struggle'?" the red head asked.

"Of course we will Axel, it gets old playing Sora's 'Light' song all the time let's give the audience something new for our finale," Riku replied.

"I thought you guys liked that song!" Sora frowned.

"It's a 45 second ballad you wrote when you were 16 bro, I think we need to retire it, or you need to rework it. Give it some lyrics, rearrange it, expand it," Roxas chuckled.

"So you guys do covers and original work then?" Kairi asked.

"Kairi!" Riku exclaimed. He jumped down from the stage and gave Kairi a hug.

"Good to see you again!" Riku beamed. "To answer your question, yeah we play covers, mostly of mid 60's to mid 70's rock, we also write our own songs, Sora writes little piano love songs, he's a hopeless romantic you know. The rest of us are more into writing progressive rock and metal."

"None of it too good til now, but this new one by Axel over there is really something else," Roxas bragged pointing at the redhead.

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Axel, I play piano and various other related instruments, as well as a little guitar sometimes, make sure you get the name memorized," Axel grinned as he moved a bit closer to Kairi.

"I'm Kairi, hope we get along," Kairi smiled back.

"I'm sure we'll get along just fine," Axel flirted, his smile growing wider.

Riku gave him a dirty look.

"Axel, you better watch it," Riku warned.

"Hey calm down, it was just a joke," Axel said scratching the back of his head.

"How about you, you haven't introduced yourself yet," Kairi asked the blonde guy.

"I'm Demyx, I'm the guy who plays all the weird instruments, when I'm not doing that I play rhythm guitar..." he replied, he sounded bored to Kairi, but maybe that was just his default.

"Demyx is our resident genius, the guy can play like 25 instruments!" Sora bragged as he put his arm around Demyx's neck.

Kairi giggled a bit "So what's your band's name?"

"The Iron Hearted Bastards," Sora grinned, hands placed behind his head.

"Kinda an odd name isn't it" Kairi questioned, her hand placed quizzically under her chin.

"Not really a band I would go out of my way to listen to if I only had their name you know?" She teased.

"Hey don't listen to her guys, I really like the name," a familiar voice chirped from behind them.

Kairi turned around.

"Xion, nice to see you," she smiled as she gave a hug to the owner of the voice.

"Nice to see you again too Kairi," Xion laughed. "Sorry about how suddenly I had to end our phone call, I accidentally left my fork in my ramen when I started the microwave, so now I have no microwave!"

"I admire the fact that you can admit that so easily," Demyx murmured as he began to tune one of the acoustic guitars.

That must have been why she smelled vaguely of char. On the whole Xion still seemed as odd as she had always been. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, in the middle of February, in the northern hemisphere. Her footwear choice was a bit more weather appropriate, knee high socks and winter boots. Her black hair was in a pixie cut, because it was easier for her to take care of, if Kairi had to guess.

"Hey Xion," Roxas smiled.

Xion climbed up onto the stage and gave Roxas a hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey what about me?" Axel asked, he had a hurt look on his face, but from his tone Kairi assumed he was messing around.

"Don't worry Axel, I wasn't about to forget about you!" Xion chuckled as she gave him a hug as well.

"Hey where's Namine, wasn't she supposed to be coming as well?" Roxas asked.

"Well she got kinda nervous when she heard Kairi was going to be coming... she's mentally preparing outside right now," Xion explained. "You know how she can be."

"Yeah at Grandma's funeral she just stood in the back of the room and cried, she didn't speak to anyone but dad, not even mom surprisingly," Kairi added.

"I think it's because she gets a bit too much of auntie, I mean she even moved out here with Nami when Nami started art school," Xion opined before pointing a finger at Kairi.

"You on the other hand need to get a bit more of your mother! You know how it makes Nami feel that-" Xion began.

"Xion! Can we not start this again!" Kairi snapped before giving gave an exasperated sigh. "Especially not in front of our friends!"

"Oh... sorry," Xion whispered as she hung her head.

Everyone was now locked in an awkward silence, thanks to Xion's little outburst...

"So did Cloud get everything over here alright?" The black haired woman asked walking up to the stage, thankfully breaking the awkward silence.

"Yup, he didn't forget anything this time," Roxas confirmed as he took a seat at the drum kit.

"Well that's good, but I swear that guy is so hopeless! He was like that when we were kids too though. Your mother always had to keep him and your uncle Zack in line." She sighed putting her hands on her hips.

"Hey Kairi! Long time no see, I doubt you even remember me though, we only met once. I'm Tifa, an old friend of these two turds' mother," The black haired woman smiled as she turned her head towards Kairi, her thumb pointed in the direction of Sora and Roxas.

"Yeah, I'm sorry ma'am I don't remember you, but it is nice to meet you, again!" Kairi apologized.

"Oh come on now, none of that ma'am stuff, you're a friend of the boys, the most formal I'll accept is Ms. Tifa," She beamed.

"Ms. Lockhart, There's an Aerith on the phone for you," One of the employees of the bar informed Tifa.

"I should probably take that. See you guys later!" Tifa said as she walked off.

"Tell Aerith me and Roxas say hi!" Sora shouted.

"Will do!" Tifa shouted back.

After Tifa walked off all of the band, except for Riku who was still standing next to Kairi, started getting ready and tuning their instruments.

"So you going to address the 'Cave Incident' with Sora?" Riku asked in a near whisper.

Kairi's face immediately flushed red. "I.. I don't know w...what you're talking about!" she stammered.

"Okay, fine, play dumb. Sora clammed up too when I asked him about it, when we heard you were coming to town. But if you guys are going to be friends you need to sort that shit out before one of you gets hurt," He said before peaking over his shoulder. "But first I think you need to patch up your family issues," he patted her on the back before walking on stage as well.

Kairi turned around to see Namine walking closer, her long blonde hair in a ponytail, wearing a white jacket and a white knee length skirt with gray pants underneath. Kairi inhaled sharply.

"Hey Nami," Xion smiled as she gave Namine a hug. "You feeling okay now?"

Namine gave a small nod and turned to Kairi, she looked like she was about to cry, Kairi was getting a bit misty eyed herself.

Kairi gave her sister a hug. Nothing was said or shared other than that until they separated.

"So, how's your art going?" Kairi asked after a few seconds.

"Good, it's going good... Mom says she thinks I could..." She began before stopping suddenly. "You know what never mind that. I'm thinking of submitting some of my pieces to an art show soon."

Kairi swallowed hard, her thoughts turning to what Xion had said earlier, or rather what she was about to say.

"That's great! You deserve it, you really are talented you know!" Kairi's thoughts then shifted again, this time to her mother.

" _Wow Namine! You're so talented!"_ She recalled those frequent words her mother spoke.

"So you're doing accounting right? How's that going?" Namine asked.

"Good, I have a 3.9 GPA. I hope I can get some sort of internship or something soon, one that pays that is. Dad is sending me money right now, but it kinda makes me feel bad relying on him like that," Kairi sighed as the three of them made their way to a table.

"How's dad doing? I'm sorry about how I haven't been able to come to visit. I really want to, honest. I've just been too busy," Namine expressed, looking down at the table

"Dad's got plenty of work now that he's mayor... he hardly has any free time," Kairi explained.

"You're minoring in Music Theory right? You enjoying that?" Xion murmured, propping her head up on the table with her hands.

"Oh Music Theory! Does that mean you're playing piano again Kairi!" Namine beamed, grabbing her sister's hands.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I'm going to continue with it... I just don''t know if I have the passion for playing like I used to..." Kairi lamented.

"Oh..." Namine's smile faded from her face, her hands returning to her side.

Kairi bit her lip.

" _Damn it! What was I thinking! She was so excited, I should have just said I was enjoying it!"_ she thought, mentally kicking herself.

"Well we're in a bar how about a few drinks!" Kairi suggested.

"Just a water for me thanks," Namine stated.

"I'll just have some vodka on the rocks..." Xion murmured.

"Xion that's pretty hard stuff you know..." Namine explained.

"I'll be fine, Nami, trust me!" Xion reassured her cousin, giving a thumbs up.

"Alrighty then! Waiter!" Kairi called out.

* * *

The show was about to begin and Kairi could tell Xion was getting bit antsy, she was swirling her wine around in the glass. She had switched drinks after complaining about her throat burning after her first sip of vodka, which evoked an 'I told you so' response from Namine. Kairi on the other hand was enjoying her sake that she had ordered, but felt that she had drank enough for one night.

The bar was now about three quarters full if she had to guess, waiters were walking around filling orders and people were talking among themselves.

Tifa walked up on the stage and grabbed a microphone, "So all you regulars may know this shabby little band up here, but for any newcomers here tonight may I introduce to you the Iron Hearted Bastards!" Kairi heard and saw a good portion of the crowd began clap and cheer exuberantly.

Sora then walked up to his mic, "So how is everyone tonight!" The crowd gave another spirited response, it seemed like most people recognized the band.

"Good, very nice! So our first song for tonight is a little number from a little band you may have heard of, from their self titled album, this is 'Glass Onion' from 'The Beatles'!"

Glass Onion, not one of Kairi's favorite songs, when she wanted nonsensical John Lennon lyrics she preferred "Come Together".

Riku and Roxas then began to play the bass and drums respectively, followed by Sora strumming his electric guitar, and Demyx doing the same on his acoustic.

" _I told you about strawberry fields,"_ Sora began to sing. " _You know the place where nothin' is real"_

" _Well here's another place you can go'o, where everythin' flo'ows,"_ As Sora continued to sing, Axel began playing the synthesizer to fill in for the strings. Kairi never had messed with synthesizers much herself, so she was unsure how different it was from piano, but as far as she could tell he was quite skilled.

" _Look into the bent back tulips, to see how the other half live!_ _Lookin' through a glass onion!"_ Sora continued, his voice had a little rougher timbre than Kairi expected, but so far he had hit every note.

" _I told you about walrus and me, man!_ _You know that we're as close as can be, man._ _Well here's another clue for you all_ _The Walrus was Paul!"_ Sora sang, his body moving with the music, his trademark smile still plastered across his face.

" _Standin' on the cast iron shore, yeah!_ _Lady Madonna tryin' to make ends meet, yeah!_ _Lookin' through that glass onion!_ _Ooh, yeah, Ooh yeah, Ooh yeaaaah..."_ Sora sang growing louder with each word, he was practically shouting by the end, he had a certain energy while preforming that stood out to Kairi, mostly because of how Sora like it was. He just seemed to be having so much fun up their on stage." _Lookin' through the glass onion!_ _I told you about the fool on the hill._ _I tell you man he livin' there still."_

Demyx played a short little tune on a recorder that he had been keeping around his neck, his head moving in tune with the music in a playful way. He, too, was smiling. Kairi wasn't expecting that given his attitude earlier.

" _Well here's another place you can be._ _Listen to me!_ _Fixin' a hole the ocean!"_ Sora's voice faltered a bit on the word ocean, and for the first time in the song his smile did as well. " _Tryin to make a dove tail joint yeah..."_

" _Lookin through a glass onion!"_ Sora backed off from the mic a few paces and exhaled a little before a smile once again found it's way onto his scruffy face, his hands now resting behind his head. It was still the same old Sora Kairi had always known it seems, even if he was obscured by a poor beard.

At this point Demyx had switched to a cello and began playing the outro with Riku. Sora wasn't kidding when they said he could play multiple instruments.

After Demyx had finished the song he grabbed an acoustic guitar and walked up to the main mic.

"Next song is going to be Sloop John B, by the Beach Boys..." he half whispered into the mic before taking a deep breath.

Axel began playing a piano rendition of Sloop John B.

" _We come on Sloop John B,"_ Demyx sang the others harmonizing with him, as he and Sora began playing their guitars.

" _My grandfather and me,"_ They continued singing as Riku began playing his bass. " _around Nassau town we did roam._ _Drinkin' all night, got into a fight."_

" _Well I feel so broke up, I wanna go home,"_ Sora, Riku and Roxas sang over the other two as Roxas began to drum, " _So hoist up the John B's sail!_ _See how the main sail sets!_ _Call for the Captain ashore, let me go home, let me go home._ _I wanna go home, yeah yeah..._ _Well I feel so broke up I want to go home..."_

As the song continued on, it seemed to Kairi that Sora seemed sadder and sadder, his practically perennial smile fading. Was the song reminding him of his father? Kairi remembered a nine year old Sora sitting on the docks of Destiny Islands, waiting to see his father's boat come over the horizon. That boat never came.

 _"Well I feel so broke up I want to go home..."_

* * *

 _A/N:_ Thanks to everyone who read chapter one, and an extra big thanks to all of those who favorited, followed and reviewed. Thanks once again to FlowerLady_Aerith for beta reading this chapter and really helping me polish it up. Chapter 3 should be up no later than next Saturday.


	3. This Bird Has Flown

**Chapter 3 This Bird Has Flown**

The concert had been going pretty well so far, Kairi thought. The band had just finished preforming "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin, who Kairi had never been a big fan of, but enjoyed the band's rendition of the song anyway.

"They're pretty good huh?" Xion smiled, leaning over the table, in front of her was a wine glass as well as a bottle.

"Yeah I'm surprised." Kairi agreed.

"Yeah everyone thought they were crazy to drop out of school, but they really do work hard on their music. Roxas says they only allow themselves 2 or 3 hours of free time per day, the rest of their off time from their day jobs is devoted to practice." Namine explained.

"I'm really excited to hear their original piece, Axel played a bit of it for me the other day and it was really cool and it-," Xion added, the sounds of some odd percussion, keyboard, and guitars in the background.

"Oh this is 'Time'! I love this song," Xion exclaimed pivoting her upper body towards the stage as the sounds of the normal drum kit kicked in.

Xion was as easily sidetracked as she was when Kairi and her were kids. And now that Kairi thought about it, it happened in their phone calls as well, which sometimes resulted in Kairi repeating herself multiple times because Xion got distracted by something. Kairi preferred texting Xion.

" _Ticking away the moments that make up the dull day,"_ Riku sang with Axel doing backing, Sora and Demyx played a few riffs.

"Demyx actually plays lead guitar on this one!" Xion explained, her smile wide as can be.

" _...in an offhand way!'_ Kairi caught the end of the lyric.

" _Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town, waiting for someone or something to show you the way!"_ Riku sang forcefully.

" _Tired of lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain,"_ Axel resumed his keyboard playing and took over the lead vocals the others simply going "ooh" and "aah" to back him.

" _You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today,"_ He sung, his voice had an ethereal tone to it, Kairi thought, it was clear and smooth. His voice reminded her of Art Garfunkel's voice from Simon & Garfukel, but a bit lower in pitch and a little less airy.

" _And then you find 10 years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun!"_ Riku rejoined Axel in singing this lyric, which was immediately followed by Demyx beginning his guitar solo, his guitar's tone was as ethereal as Axel's voice had been.

"I love this part! It's just so... sad and beautiful," Xion said stretching her arms above her head.

" _So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking!"_ Riku sang in the same forceful way he had before, his eyes were closed and Kairi could see beads of sweat on his forehead, though that was probably from the stage lights beaming down on the band.

"I really like the energy and emotion Riku has in his voice," Namine commented, she seemed to be enjoying herself, which made Kairi happy.

" _...behind you again! The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death!"_ Riku finished.

" _Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time. Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines..."_ Axel began singing again.

"Axel has actually really impressed me, the first time he has sang lead in the entire concert and I think he sang it beautifully," Kairi added.

"I bet he'd love to hear you say that! He's a little self conshious, I mean self conscious, about his singin'," Xion explained, slurring a bit.

" _The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say..."_ Axel finished, followed by the strumming of guitars and the beatings of drums.

" _Home, home again, I like to be here when I can"_ Riku and Sora harmonized. Their eyes were closed and they sang airily, and it was actually depressing, at least to Kairi.

After they had stopped singing the outro was played. Sora looked around and scratched his neck before walking up to the mic. "We'll be taking a five minute break." His voice sounded a bit hoarse.

Kairi leaned backed in her chair. "I need to stretch my legs a bit." Kairi got up and stretched a bit before walking towards the stage.

Sora and the others were currently drinking bottled water, understandable, they had been singing and playing for something like 40 minutes now.

"Hey guys!" She said as she waved at them.

"Hey Kairi, you enjoying yourself so far?" Sora asked putting his water down.

"Not really, sad to say you guys just aren't very good," Kairi teased. "I'm just kidding, I think you guys are doing great."

"Thanks Kairi!" Sora grinned.

Kairi giggled a bit "It's only the truth, I really enjoy your singing, Sora, especially in those harmonies you guys do. Plus you look awesome playing guitar, but your mannerisms keep making me think of the lovable dork I grew up with."

"Lovable huh?" Sora said his face a bit flushed.

"Hey quit flirting with my lead guitarist and get back to your seat," Riku joked, causing Kairi to once again blush.

"Fine... b..but I wasn't flirting," she stammered as she walked back to her seat.

"Stupid Riku... embarrassed me twice today..." Kairi huffed as she sat back down.

"I think it's sweet how you, Sora and Riku interact, Kairi, I wish I had friends I was that close with..." Namine said wistfully.

"It's strange how much me and Sora still get along despite how long it's been since we saw each other..." Kairi smiled.

"Don't ya think is a bit early to be sayin' that Kairi, you only 'ave talked a liiiitle bit" Xion slurred as she prepared to take another drink.

"I think you've had enough alcohol for one night, Xion," Namine said grabbing the drink away from her, before snatching the bottle as well.

"Stupid... Nami... takin' away my drink..." Xion whined, laying her head down on the table and covering it with her hands. Was this normal drunken behavior for her?

"Okay everyone thanks for waiting, now for our second to last song of the night we have our fourth Beatles song, 'Norwegian Wood'," Sora's voice announced.

Kairi turned around to see Demyx sitting down, sitar in his hands, Axel and Sora with acoustic guitars, and Riku and Roxas on their normal instruments.

And then they began playing and Kairi was completely entranced by Demyx's sitar playing, she couldn't even process the other instruments. Demyx was playing his sitar in a way more reminiscent of the playing on "Within You Without You", it was more complex than the original, his fingers danced across the instrument, his eyes closed as he let the music flow through him, he created such an enchanting atmosphere that Kairi was breathless and before she knew it they had finished.

"You prolly thought Demyx was no good at sitter, I mean sitar, right Kai?" Xion teased, her voice being slightly muffled by the table, before suddenly jolting up.

"He's the best musician in the group! He don't write much of anyhtin', but he can play pretty much anythin', and play it damn good, sometimes even better than the original. He, like, went away for a couppla years and learned to play the sitar. He's really good, and really serious about it soundin' good too... Rox is dog shi' at the tabla, which are like drums ya play with sitar, and so he don't like playin' songs with those in 'em very much," she drunkenly explained, her hands moving all over the place while doing so, she even nearly hit a waiter.

"I could hardly understand what you just said Xion..." Kairi sighed turning back towards the stage.

"Well we have one more song left, it's an instrumental piece, and it's a little harder than anything we have played so far tonight, here is 'The 13th Struggle'!" Sora said as Demyx began playing his electric guitar, the sound was heavy like they had mentioned. Roxas soon began drumming and Riku played his bass. After a few seconds Sora joined in as well. Soon everyone but Sora stopped, Demyx quickly joined back in, followed by Axel joining in with his keyboard, now taking over the song for the duration of it, his fingers gliding expertly across the keyboard.

After the song had ended Kairi began to clap followed by the rest of the crowd.

"GO ROXAS! WHOO PLAY THOSE DRUMS!" A blonde guy shouted from the top of one of the tables, before being pulled down by a young brunette woman, who Kairi assumed was his girlfriend.

"Thank you everyone for being such a lovely crowd, it was an honor playing for you tonight!" Riku said on his mic.

Sora had already jumped down off of the stage.

"So you guys like our song?" He asked, grin plastered on his face like always.

"It was a bit heavy for me, but it was still very well done," Namine expressed, her hands pressed together.

"Well I loveded it Soraa!" Xion slurred.

"I'm really impressed with you guys, I was not expecting something like that!" Kairi exclaimed as she got up from her seat.

"Hey Sora! Tifa wants to talk to us real quick!" Roxas called out.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Kairi. I'm really... you know what, never mind, see you later Kairi!" Sora said as he walked off.

Now outside the bar Kairi, Riku, Namine, Axel, Demyx, and a barely conscious Xion were heading home.

"I'll take Xion home in her car and since she was the one who picked me up, I have no way of getting home myself, so I'll stay at her place tonight," Namine said as she helped her drunk cousin into her car. "I'm really happy you're living here now Kairi, please come visit anytime, I'm sure mo-uh... J-just drop by anytime, okay?!" A smile grew across her face, but it seemed to Kairi that it was more of a nervous one than a genuine smile.

"Well, I'll think about it. But how about we get lunch sometime... how's next Wednesday sound?" Kairi asked.

"Sure, sounds great... you have my phone number right?" She asked as she walked around the car towards the driver's side.

"Sure do... bye Namine," Kairi smiled, her hands in the pockets of her coat. It had always felt so awkward talking to Namine over the phone, so much so that she had rarely done so at all, but after today maybe it would be different. There was still a bit of tension between them but at least now they weren't separated by hundreds of miles of water.

"See you later, Kairi," Namine smiled back as she got into the car and drove off.

"Axel, Demyx and I are roommates so we'll be heading back together. Riku said as he walked towards a red sports car. "Remember what I said Kairi, you and Sora need to sort out what happened that day got it?"

Damn Riku, reminding Kairi of that day again, it made her so frustrated at him! Sora had now just walked out of the bar and was looking around.

"Hey, Kairi how about I walk you home?" Sora asked as he noticed Kairi who was now standing alone on the sidewalk.

"Roxas is still busy talking with Tifa, so I'm not heading home anytime soon," he laughed.

"I'd love that," Kairi giggled, before remembering what Riku had said. She quickly dismissed it though, what did Riku know anyway! They were doing fine so far, not an awkward moment between the two of them, even after that case of unknown identity!

"So, what is life like for Miss Kairi these days?" Sora asked as they walked down the brightly lit streets.

"Oh you know, school and all that shit, stuff you don't have to worry about, Mister Dropout," Kairi teased.

"Oh so you heard about that, huh?"

"Yeah, Namine mentioned it, I knew Riku had dropped out but I wasn't expecting you and Roxas to have too."

"You think we made a mistake don't you?" He asked, his smile fading slightly.

Kairi laughed.

"What are you laughing about?" he scowled.

"You look so serious and mature with that beard, no wonder I didn't recognize you!" she chortled.

"Jeez back to the beard again," Sora sighed, but his smile soon found its way back onto his face.

"But back to your first question: I would have thought so before tonight, but I really think you have something going on there with that little band of yours!"

"You really think so?"

"Yeah I really do, you are a great guitarist Sora, honest! Also I'm actually kinda bummed I didn't get to hear your little 'Light' song, you'll have to play it for me sometime!"

"Well um... the band usually hangs out at Axel's place why don't you swing by tomorrow and I can play it for you then? Afterwards maybe we could grab a bite to eat, and catch up some more."

Kairi looked down at her feet and thought it over.

"You know what Sora, that actually sounds great. I have class until 1 o'clock, so how about 1:30?"

"It's a date then! I have the night shift over at my job so 1:30 works out fine," Sora grinned putting his hands behind his head.

"Huh?" Kairi stopped in her tracks. How exactly did Sora mean that? Did he mean he and Kairi were going on a date, like an actual date, or maybe he was he just saying it as an expression? Was he asking her out just now and she hadn't noticed until just now? Her thoughts shifted to that day 6 years ago in that secret little cave on Destiny Islands and then her face went bright red.

"What's wrong Kairi?" Sora asked turning around.

"N-nothing, nothing at all! I'm fine," Kairi stammered as she began walking again. "So yeah, I'm going to need directions to Axel's place."

"I'll send them to you by text in the morning then," Sora said as they continued walking.

"Well to do that you'll need my number," Kairi said.

"But I have your number..." Sora said with a confused look on his face.

This was weird.

"Then why didn't you **ever** call or message me? Everyone else at least messaged me from time to time," Kairi asked. Now that she thought about it the only times she ever talked with Sora since he moved was when she was having skype calls with Roxas or Riku (and even then only when Sora happened to be in the same room as one of them) and she hadn't done that in about a year.

"Um, I was busy with school and the band and stuff! You know how much trouble I had with Math and Science. I was almost always studying, and when I wasn't studying I was practicing guitar or doing stuff with the band. And since dropping out I've been completely absorbed in the band," Sora blurted out before laughing. It was a poor excuse but Kairi decided to let it slide for now.

"Well let me have your info so I'll know who's messaging me," Kairi sighed.

Sora relayed his information to Kairi who copied it into her phone.

"There! All set," Kairi said putting her phone away.

"So who's your favorite Beatle?" he asked after about thirty seconds.

"My favorite of the Fab Four... hmm...," Kairi said her hand under her chin, "Ringo, or maybe John if we are talking strictly about songwriting."

"Really? That's interesting... I like George most, then probably John."

"Poor Paul didn't even get mentioned."

The two friends shared a laugh and continued discussing music all the way to Kairi's apartment.


End file.
